"Really? How? It's not more of a rock than anything you'd pick up off the ground, it's just a little sturdier and pretty."

"Yes, but that increase in durability means that you won't have to compensate for everyday wear and tear. Degradation of tools slows the learning process, since you have to adjust your motion, even if it is by the tiniest of amounts."

"Oh. Cool."

"It probably won't help that I'm a very clumsy person. Though mostly for balance and not manual dexterity, I can play the violin just fine."

"Can you bend down and pick a rock up off the ground without falling over?"

"Yes." It has to be from the ground?"

"That is the standard first exercise, since it will give you the range of motion from your feet to where you hold the rock steady. At least, in the vertical direction. Others might be possible, but will give you even less useful parlor tricks than 'pick up things that weigh less than a rock from the ground.'"

"...Should I make a bigger rock for better weight limit?"

"Okay. What next, exactly? I gather exactitude is called for."

"I'll want to set aside a ritual room with a mark for you to place the stone into, and marks for you to place your feet into. The room is otherwise unimportant, but I personally find that it helps my concentration if I make the room aesthetically pleasing."

"Sure, I can decorate a spot if you give me a spot to decorate."

Isabella and her magic castle quickly produce a small, unfurnished stone room.

"How thoroughly can I integrate stuff into your architecture here?"

"Do not damage the castle. It dislikes being damaged."

"Okay, but does adding a layer of rock that attaches like it was always there to the existing rock count as a form of damage?"

"Probably not. The Castle would probably enjoy the change of pace."

"By what form of magic do you have a castle that dislikes or enjoys things? I'm not sure how you could build it out of the kind of tools that I'm about to start developing with this rock."

"I have absolutely no idea. The Castles are inherited. They say the First - the first vampire, that is - made them, hundreds of years ago. Nobody knows how they work. So far as I can tell, the Castle is about as smart as a particularly bright dog."

"How does it make its pleasure or displeasure known?" wonders Cam.

"Mostly by moving around rooms. It seems to enjoy attention, particularly in the form of new furnishings."

"Cool. So, regarding decor and installations, how much of my attention does picking up the rock need? Do I need to look at it? Could I have music on?"

"It requires your full attention. If you practice sloppily, you will have little to no results. Form is of the utmost importance - it can be casual, but it must be reproducible to a very high degree. If you can pick up the rock the same way every time without needing to pay attention, then that means you are done the first stage of the training."

"Okay. Wow, this is gonna be boring. You're really, really sure it will work for people who aren't from here?"